GRAND JURY PROBE MAY TAKE LONGER THAN EXPECTED

The grand jury investigation into Pedro Oregon Navarro's death at the
hands of Houston police might take longer than the two or three weeks
prosecutors initially estimated.

By the end of today, grand jurors will have heard three days of
testimony and much more information must be presented.

The panel meets only on Mondays and Wednesdays and will not meet
Monday because it's Labor Day, said Harris County District Attorney
John B. Holmes Jr. There's also a scheduling conflict on one other day
with panel members who want to hear all the testimony.

Prosecutors are also hoping to track down more witnesses in the case,
Holmes said.

"There's no reason to hurry just to get through with it," Holmes said.
"You don't want to rush them. They're not going to do anything until
they have heard from every witness. These people have some pieces to a
puzzle and they need to see all the pieces."

On Monday, grand jurors heard from members of Oregon's family who were
in the apartment the night he died. The panel is expected to hear more
from them today and it's unlikely the officers involved in the
shooting will testify until the end of the inquiry.

Oregon, 22, died July 12 in a hail of bullets fired by six police
officers who were following a tip from an informant that drugs were
being sold in his home.

A shot fired by one officer hit another officer in his
bullet-resistant vest and knocked him to the floor, police said. The
officers, who are now on paid suspensions, apparently thought the shot
had been fired by Oregon and they opened fire.

They fired about 30 rounds, and 12 of them hit Oregon. Nine struck him
in the back, one in the back of the head, one in back of the shoulder
and one in the back of the hand.

No drugs were found in the apartment and Oregon had not fired a gun at
police, though one was found in the apartment. Oregon, who had no
criminal record, also had no traces of drugs or alcohol in his system.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry